Singapore’s economy will likely rebound strongly from last year’s recession as surging export demand fuels manufacturing, according to a central bank survey of analysts.
The city-state’s GDP is expected to grow 9 percent this year, according to the median forecast of 19 economists in the quarterly survey, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said yesterday.
In the previous survey in March, analysts had expected the economy would grow 6.5 percent this year.
Singapore’s economy — which relies on trade, finance and tourism — will likely be led this year by a 16.7 percent expansion in manufacturing as non-oil exports soar 17.8 percent, the analysts said.
The government boosted its growth forecast for this year in April to a range of 7 to 9 percent from 4.5 to 6.5 percent as Singapore emerged from a recession last year. The economy expanded 15.5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as pharmaceutical and electronic production surged.
“The exceptionally good result in the first half was helped by a comparison to a low base,” said Irvin Seah, an economist at DBS bank in Singapore. “We’ll likely see another double-digit growth figure in the second quarter.”
DBS raised this week its growth forecast for this year to 10.3 percent from 9 percent.
Growth will likely slow in the second half because of weaker export demand from Asia as regional policymakers tighten monetary policy and wind down stimulus spending programs, Seah said.
Analysts forecast that the economy would grow 9.4 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, 6 percent in the third and 5.5 percent next year, the central bank said.
Inflation is expected to rise to 2.8 percent this year, the unemployment rate will be 2 percent and the exchange rate will average S$1.356 against the greenback, little changed from the March survey, the analysts said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique